Thursday, August 9, 2012
We hate to start off
with an inside joke, but when you go to an author event and these words are
uttered...you know a good time was had by all. So, what are we
going on about?
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| The turn-out this year was fantastic! |
Well...these awesome YA
authors showed up at Joseph-Beth in Cincinnati, Ohio (sometimes it pays to live
in the Midwest, yo) and they offered some swag (bribes) in exchange for
questions from the audience. One audience member half-joked to another about a throwdown over swag: "No, I'm an actual trained professional wrestler." Yikes! Another girl screamed, "I NEED IT!" when Rae Carson offered an ARC of CROWN OF EMBERS. It got a bit crazy up in there.
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| Christine Johnson and her books (bribes) |
Starting off, there was
a fantastic question about including more non-white characters in books.
Obviously us readers want more diversity. Here's what
the authors said:
Saundra Mitchell: chose Baltimore as a setting in her
Victorian era trilogy to subvert the tropes of the historical genre. She
found it exciting to write about history that people don't talk about--for
instance African-American as well as Asian-American characters who helped found
cities and fought in the wilds of the west.
Sarah Rees Brennan: spoke about book covers being changed
after reader outcry, such as LIAR by Justine Larbalestier (where the cover
depicted a black MC as white).
Julie Kagawa: seconded that issue and announced Harlequin
Teen is changing her IMMORTAL RULES cover when it's printed in paperback to
correctly depict the Asian MC (rather than the white one used on the
hardcover).
Rae Carson: thirded (is that a word?) the issue by
pointing out her original mock-up cover had a thin, white girl in a flowy dress when
her MC is a fat Latina girl (and "that polyester dress would really chafe in the
desert"). Consequently her cover was changed.
Christine Johnson: said that YA is in a unique position to
change things in publishing because all genres are shelved next to each other.
There is no separate section for African-American or
"multi-cultural" stories. Unlike the adult section where genres
are shelved separately. YA has a chance to make diversity normative. *high fives*
The entire panel pointed
out that the only people who can change the way publishers market is for us
readers to initiate that change and to voice our need and want for diverse
covers (and even diverse characters).
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| Julie Kagawa (signing), Christine Johnson, Saundra Mitchell |
They spoke about
their inspirations:
Julia Karr: "whatever" "nowhere"
For instance, her latest story idea came to her when she was in the massage
parlor (a big clue as to the title of this post).
Kristina McBride: said her ideas come to her "all the
time," but when she can't sleep because her characters are speaking to her
or she can't stop thinking about an idea, she knows this is "the
one." The book to work on.
Rae Carson: "life" "asking how
you get your ideas is like asking how do you get your oxygen" However,
she did mention that her trilogy arose from "the worst idea ever"
when she was in a different kind of parlor (tattoo) getting her belly button
pierced. At the time she was thinking about fantasy and how to subvert
the trope of the "amulet of power." She thought wouldn't it be
crazy to write the amulet of power being "belly bling." For the
record: WE ARE SO GLAD THAT SHE DID!!
Saundra Mitchell: summed it up, "people talk in my head,
people annoy me, I write books." Hilariously she explained how she likes
to take on a challenge (Irish Fog Fairies) and sometimes writes just to be
contrary. But most often the characters come to her first. <3
<3 "The Irish give good fairy"--Sarah Rees Brennan
Julie Kagawa: admitted all of her ideas (and she means ALL)
come from video games and anime. She spilled that the ending of THE IRON
QUEEN was completely inspired from the ending in FINAL FANTASY 10. She
summed it up well: "Your tears feed my muse." (And
between her and Christine Johnson is mostly responsible for the title of this post).
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| Julia Karr, Kristina McBride, Rae Carson, Sarah Rees Brennan |
During the lightning round
of questions they spoke about feminism and retelling folklore:
Saundra Mitchell: "Always let the girls drive."
Sarah Rees Brennan: did an entire monologue that we completely
wish we had a video recording to show. It ended with making fun of Superman
for wearing his pants on the outside. :)
Rae Carson: There's a "different wave of
feminism in YA" that used to be simply having the female characters
"just like guys" but have moved on to "women get to be whoever
they want to be" without having to have big muscles, etc.
Julie Kagawa: "Treats retellings with
respect" so that "you can tweak them, but not completely change
them." (She quite cheekily mentioned that her vampires
"sparkle...right before they burst into flames").
They spoke about
influential authors and most memorable lines from their books. Basically,
the entire two hours was filled with smart questions and clever and hilarious
authors. It was absolutely superb and we can't wait for next year!!
If you had a chance, what would YOU ask these authors??
If you had a chance, what would YOU ask these authors??
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about us
Stephanie, Ingrid, Sarah & Kristan — we read, write, discuss and celebrate Young Adult lit.
on the shelf
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7 comments:
So glad to hear about the cover changes to reflect more non white characters! What a great panel.
This looks like such an amazing event! Jealous! I just read The Iron King so I can finally say I'm a Julie Kagawa fan, and you guys already know that I'm a Kristina McBride fan now, too. (: The discussion about diversity in YA seems like it was great.
Ugh, I wish I had gone now! The event sounds like it was amazing -- thank you for posting the recap. It was almost, almost like being there.
This is really cool, for me, because I had never thought of it: Christine Johnson: said that YA is in a unique position to change things in publishing because all genres are shelved next to each other.
@Steph...it was a great panel, and hoping they'll continue it each year. Amazing how publishing is listening to the readers (but they do have to make some noise).
@Sara...yes! you're an honorary Cincy girl. :) It felt like they couldn't wait to talk about diversity. So glad someone asked the question!
@Leeanna...twelve hours is a bit much! You are certainly excused! We always dream about going to YA'llFest in NC, but alas, too far. Is that closer to you? Man, we'd be jealous.
Yes, great point made by C.J. Pressures on us!
Sounds like a great panel.
They were SO awesome -- hard to capture in a recap, but you did a great job. Can't wait for Beachy Keen 3 next year. ;)
@Sarah No. I'm actually way up north. Still in Ohio, but just in the NE corner. I went to school in Oxford, though -- wish I'd known you all then! I could have done things!
I've had that quote I posted on my mind all week. It's definitely got me thinking. Thanks again for posting about the event!
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